The 45 parking spaces that will be available along Franklin Street will be used by MountainStar personnel but open to area residents on all non-game, non-event days. Here workers continue to get Franklin Street ready for opening day and those residents in the area. ( RUBEN R RAMIREZ—EL PASO TIMES)

The muddled parking picture around the Downtown ballpark got a little clearer Tuesday when the City Council designated some metered areas for the public and reserved zones for the El Paso Chihuahuas team owners.

In a 5-2 vote, the council approved designating a 45-space reserved parking zone near the ballpark for use by MountainStar Sports Group. The spaces are part of the city's contractual agreement to provide the team owners with about 500 parking spaces, including along nearby streets and in the city-owned civic center and Union Plaza garages.

REPORTER

Cindy Ramirez

The 45 angled spaces along one side of Franklin Avenue will only be reserved for MountainStar when the ballpark is being used for baseball games or other events. When the ballpark is not in use, 30 of those 45 spaces will be open to the public.

Signs designating the area as reserved will be covered when the spaces are available to the public, city Rep. Cortney Niland said.

City Reps. Eddie Holguin and Lily Limón voted against that reserved zone, and city Rep. Carl Robinson abstained from voting. In favor were Niland and city Reps. Larry Romero, Emma Acosta, Dr. Michiel Noe and Ann Morgan Lilly.

The parking details for game days at Southwest University Park are being finalized before the home opener April 28 against the Fresno Grizzlies.

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"It's all part of the greater parking plan that the City Council has to approve," said Ted Marquez, the city's transportation director. "Once the games start and we see how things shape up, the council can direct us to make changes as needed."

Under that plan, meters on the other side of Franklin Avenue will be installed and the spaces will be available to the public. The council Tuesday decided not to extend their hours or increase their rates at this time.

Old San Francisco Historical District resident Rodolfo Alarcon addresses city council on the subject of neighborhood residents parking costs at 30 for their first car and 200 for additional cars. Alarcon told council that with the size of his family it would cost him about 800 to park at his own home. (Ruben R. Ramirez -- El Paso Times)

Two proposed ordinances that would have extended the meter hours along Franklin to 10 p.m. and set their rates at $2.50 an hour were deleted from the agenda. Most Downtown meters run through 6 p.m. at a rate of 75 cents per hour.

That means those proposals are no longer being considered — at least for now. They could come back another time, as city and MountainStar officials have said the parking plans could change after traffic and parking patterns are better established when the ballpark opens in two weeks.

In a separate but related matter that seemed to muddy the parking issue, however, the residential parking zone for residents of the Old San Francisco Historic District was revisited.

The council on April 1 unanimously approved creating the zone, which reserves parking for residents of the neighborhood who buy a $30 permit for one car and pay $200 for additional permits. Those fees were established more than a year ago when the council approved creating residential parking districts throughout Downtown.

But in a turnaround Tuesday, some members of the council questioned their own decision before unanimously voting to revisit the fees within 60 days. That came after neighbors complained that the fees were too high.

"We got encroached upon by this venue," said Rodolfo Alarcon, who lives in the Old San Francisco neighborhood. He said that while he looks forward to attending games at the ballpark, he won't be able to afford tickets if he has to pay the $200 permit fee each for the second and third vehicles in his household.

Alarcon said while most residents only have one car, some have two or more.

"I like Dr. Noe's idea," Alarcon said, referring to a suggestion by city Rep. Dr. Michiel Noe that current residents not have to pay for a permit.

Niland said she's been working with neighborhood residents, as well as MountainStar, to accommodate their needs as well as that of the public.

Niland said public parking will also be available in the city-owned Judson F. Williams Convention Center and the Union Plaza Transit Terminal, as well as several privately owned garages and parking lots nearby.

Parking for disabled visitors will be available at all the parking lots and garages, with drop-off areas at Durango Street and Missouri Avenue, Main and Santa Fe streets and San Antonio Avenue between Durango and Santa Fe. The last two locations will also serve as drop-off sites for all guests, MountainStar officials told the El Paso Times last week.

Staff and season ticket holders will be able to park in the reserved guest parking at the VIP lot at Franklin and Durango (in the former City Hall visitor parking lot), the Mills Building parking garage, and the Union Plaza and civic center garages, depending on their season ticket pricing, MountainStar officials said.

Parking rates will be set by the lot and garage owners.

Destination El Paso, formerly the Convention & Visitors Bureau, runs the city-owned garages and will set their parking rates. Officials with Destination El Paso didn't immediately return calls Tuesday, but parking at those city-owned garages now range between $5 and $10 during special events.

Sun Metro will offer $3 round-trip park-and-ride shuttle service to and from the ballpark from five transit and transfer terminals citywide, which Marquez said he encourages the public to use.